The fourth round of matches in the Premier League start on Saturday with teams hoping to finish on a high before the international break.
Chelsea have made a good start under new boss Maurizio Sarri and entertain Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon. Both clubs will be pleased with their start to the 2018/19 Premier League campaign and will be looking to continue their momentum before the players join up with their national teams.
Chelsea have made the perfect start to the season, winning all three of their Premier League games. They started with a potentially tricky match at Huddersfield Town but came away with a convincing 3-0 win. A London derby against Arsenal followed and despite allowing the Gunners back into the game having taken a 2-0 lead, Chelsea eventually won the match 3-2.
Last weekend saw a trip north to play Newcastle United and Chelsea scored a late goal thanks to a deflected shot to seal maximum points.
Trends show Chelsea are unbeaten in fourteen of their last sixteen home Premier League games and have always gone in at half-time at least level in their last nineteen at Stamford Bridge. The Blues have won seven of their last nine Premier League games and both teams have scored in five of their last six league matches on home soil.
Eddie Howe will be pleased with the way Bournemouth have started the Premier League season. They picked up a comfortable 2-0 win at home over newly promoted Cardiff City on the opening day of the season and came away from West Ham United with a 2-1 win. The latter result was very important as Bournemouth struggled for long periods away from home last season.
Last weekend Bournemouth were held to a 2-2 draw by Everton. As the Toffees went down to 10 men this looks like 2 points dropped but Bournemouth were forced to come back from behind without one of their own men and were happy to take a point .
Trends show Bournemouth have won only three of their last sixteen away matches in all competitions and twenty of their last twenty-five games have seen over 2.5 goals. Bournemouth recorded an excellent 3-0 win in this fixture last season but expect this to be a much tougher assignment for the Cherries.
Team news and Chelsea have a doubt over the fitness of Cesc Fabregas but he is the only first team player receiving treatment. Sarri is expected to keep the same starting XI from the win at Newcastle last weekend.
Bournemouth handed debuts to new singings Diego Rico and Jefferson Lerma in the League Cup and both players will be hoping to start this match. Junior Stanislas, Marc Pugh and Lys Mousset are injured and will miss the game.
There is no doubting Bournemouth’s good start to the season but this will be their toughest test to date. Chelsea look in good shape under Sarri this season and the Blues should get maximum points from this game, with over 2.5 goals being scored.